Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), once utilized solely in military applications, are becoming more ubiquitous in everyday life. Although a variety of names have been used to describe these systems and devices, such as remotely piloted aircraft, unmanned aircraft, or drone, the common characteristic between each is that no pilot is present within the aircraft. Rather, they are controlled either autonomously by onboard computers or by the remote control of a pilot on the ground or in another vehicle.
However, the proliferation of UAVs has led to safety concerns. Traditional piloted aircraft—at least in high traffic areas—communicate with and may be controlled by FAA air traffic controllers. UAVs, in contrast, are not in communication with or controlled by FAA air traffic controllers. This has led to safety concerns regarding the possibility of UAVs interfering with the flight paths of piloted aircraft, as well as UAVs interfering or colliding with one another.
A proposed solution to this problem requires each UAV to include radar or other onboard collision-avoidance sensors to detect and avoid nearby aircraft. However, the addition of sensors and collision avoidance equipment on-board each UAV adds considerable cost, thereby obviating one of the reasons UAVs are attractive in many applications.
It would therefore be beneficial to develop a system that provides collision avoidance for UAVs without requiring the addition of on-board collision avoidance sensors.